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Sten Söderman

About me

Sten Söderman prepared his doctorate at Oxford University, holds his PhD and earned his docentship at SBS, Stockholm Business School and is now professor emeritus of International Business at SBS, affiliated researcher at Center for Sports and Business, Stockholm School of Economics Institute for Research and a visiting professor at the University of Tartu Pärnu College. He has been visiting professor at universities in Luxembourg, South Stockholm/Södertörn, Göteborg school of business, economics and law and Shanghai University. Söderman was appointed chaired professor at Luleå University of Technology during 1982-1989, Sweden. He then worked as a business consultant specializing in start-ups (in Manila, Geneva and Brussels). His practical experience has been gained through 15 years as professional consultant at SIAR (Scandinavian Institutes of Administrative Research in Stockholm and Manila), INDEVO (in Geneva and Zurich) and CapGemini in Brussels and Stockholm. Söderman has initiated Experience Sharing Groups with high level executives in Stockholm (during 21 years), Brussels (6 years), Shanghai (during 17 years) and in Hongkong (4 years).

Research

Söderman’ teaching and research is focused on market strategy development and implementation and on the international expansion of European firms in Asia and vice versa as well as the global entertainment economy focusing on sport, specifically football. He is a member of editing boards of journals and a columnist at ‘Idrottens affärer.se’.
Söderman is the author and editor of 272 publication-including 21 books, case studies and articles.

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Football and management

    2013. Sten Söderman.

    Book

    What can football learn from business? What can business learn from football? And how can business implement these practices? Sten Söderman describes and explains how organizations such as football clubs operate, highlighting best practices within profit-driven corporations that can be adopted by football clubs to operate in a better manner. This volume articulates a basic framework using the differences between football in Sweden and England. It aims at presenting models which are easily applicable in thework-place and defines playing styles on the pitch and thought styles in the boardroom.

    Read more about Football and management

  • Handbook of research on sport and business

    2013. Sten Söderman, Harald Dolles.

    Book (ed)

    Söderman and Dolles have assembled an impressive array of researchers to address the nexus between sport and business. In their rich collection of research on sport business theory and practice Söderman and Dolles identify research themes from governance to branding, from sport events to sport systems, and from social media to fan identity, and they specifically reflect on the application of major theoretical concepts and key research methods. The authors’ aim is to advance sport business research through critical reflection on topic selection, research design, data analysis and interpretation. Their unique approach encourages researchers, from novice to experienced, to embrace diverse theories and methods. The Handbook is recommended reading for those interested in advancing sport business research.

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  • A typology of market-seeking investments

    2019. Hans Jansson, Sten Söderman. International Journal of Emerging Markets 14 (1), 254-262

    Article

    Purpose Regarding globalization trends, it is essential for multinational corporations (MNCs) to operate in China if they are to succeed in the international business environment. It is therefore vital to study how those MNCs investing in China have fared. The purpose of this paper is to devise a robust conceptual framework for the evolvement of market-seeking investments in emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach The typology is based on a network approach to internationalization processes, where a case study is made of Swedish MNCs' experience of the Chinese market. Findings The case study contributes to the mostly static foreign direct investment (FDI) theory as well as the entry mode approach, both of which have paid little attention to the FDI carried out by MNCs in emerging markets 5-15 years after initial entry. Originality/value The case study also contributes to the mostly static FDI theory as well as the entry mode approach, both of which have paid little attention to the various types of FDI carried out by MNCs in emerging markets 5-15 years after initial entry.

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  • Sport in business studies

    2018. Christofer Laurell, Sten Söderman. Sport, Business and Management 8 (5), 529-546

    Article

    Purpose

    The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of articles on sport published in leading business studies journals within marketing, organisational studies and strategy.

    Design/methodology/approach

    Based on a review of 38 identified articles within the subfields of marketing, strategy and organisation studies published between 2000 and 2015, the articles’ topical, theoretical and methodological orientation within the studied subfields were analysed followed by a cross-subfield analysis.

    Findings

    The authors identify considerable differences in topical, theoretical and methodological orientation among the studied subfields’ associated articles. Overall, the authors also find that articles across all subfields tend to be focussed on contributing to mature theory, even though the subfield of marketing in particular exhibits contributions to nascent theory in contrast to organisation studies and strategy.

    Originality/value

    This paper contributes by illustrating the current state of research that is devoted or related to the phenomenon of sport within three subfields in business studies. Furthermore, the authors discuss the role played by leading business studies journals vis-à-vis sport sector-specific journals and offer avenues for future research.

    Read more about Sport in business studies

  • Sports, storytelling and social media

    2018. Christofer Laurell, Sten Söderman. International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship 19 (3), 338-349

    Article

    Purpose - Professional sports organizations have a long tradition of utilizing stories as part of their marketing efforts. However, as the media landscape has undergone considerable change as a result of information and communication technologies, most notably through social media, the conditions under which storytelling evolve have altered significantly. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explain how storytelling in the sports sector becomes integrated in social media.

    Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual review in three sequential steps is carried out. First, extant literature on the role and effects of storytelling is reviewed. This is followed by a review of the interplay between storytelling and the contemporary media landscape, with a particular focus on social media. Third, the authors link both literatures and, by doing so, illustrate the dynamic interplay of storytelling and social media in the sports sector.

    Findings - The conceptual review shows that storytelling can enact four sequential roles that are characterized by varying degrees of co-creation which, in relation to extant literature, has strong implications for the manageability of storytelling from the perspective of professional sports organizations.

    Originality/value - Based on the identified sequential roles that storytelling can enact in social media, this paper contributes to the field of sports marketing by depicting how the dynamics between storytelling and the social media landscape exhibit a shifting degree of manageability with regards to storytelling from the perspective of professional sports organizations.

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  • International strategic management hybrids in China

    2015. Hans Jansson, Sten Söderman. International Journal of Emerging Markets 10 (2), 209-223

    Article

    Purpose

    A comparative conceptual framework is established to analyze hybrids of Western and Chinese strategic management types, where the foundation is an institutional strategic management theory.

    Design/methodology/approach

    This framework is then applied to develop a research instrument that is used in a pilot study of 21 cases in China, primarily Swedish MNCs.

    Findings

    In this study, a complex picture emerges of the various mixes of management types in international firms operating in China. The results demonstrate that the comparative institutional strategic management framework developed seems to work for studying such mixtures of management types.

    Research limitations/implications

    Our discussion is based on the assumption of two dominating management types in international firms in China. We have found different mixtures among the firms. Besides strategic management, the theory and instrument might also be useful for human resource management issues like recruitment and talent management.

    Practical implications

    Practical implications include a potentially useful measurement tool for strategic management in international firms and for evaluating executives in existing and new positions.Moreover, a contribution is made to global management, since the framework is also useful for comparing strategic management types of international firms in and outside China.

    Originality/value

    This paper contributes to this research in two ways. First, a comparative theory is specified to study the hybrids of strategic management types of international firms, especially for firms in China. Second, an instrument is developed for researching such management mixes and used on a pilot study of international firms operating in China.

    Read more about International strategic management hybrids in China

  • Strategic sponsoring in professional sport

    2015. Robert Demir, Sten Söderman. European Sport Management Quarterly 15 (3), 271-300

    Article

    Research question: While the literature on sponsorship of sport has gained interest among scholars in diverse fields such as management, marketing, and psychology in recent years, scant attention has been paid to the extent in which sponsoring may serve as a strategic lever that is mutually beneficial for sponsors and sponsees. We, therefore, ask: What constitutes strategic sponsoring in professional sport? Research methods: In addressing our research question, we selectively review the literature on sport sponsoring, link it to the basic tenets of the resource-based view, and conceptualize this literature into a framework for strategic sponsoring in professional sport. Results and findings: In developing our framework, we consider the concept of regime as the key defining working principle of strategic sponsorship activities. We then elicit six different regimes: the cause regime, loyalty regime, appropriability regime, value-differential regime, heuristics-based regime, and associational regime. Each one of these regime types is further related to the six sponsorship activities identified in our literature review. Implications: In proposing how various regimes serve as generative mechanisms for altering the resource and knowledge-bases of sponsors and sponsees, we provide a conceptually rigorous framework of strategic sponsoring that expands the limits of extant views of sport sponsorship. Hence, our multilevel framework advances sponsorship theory through a more rigorous framing, and it provides practitioners clues for rethinking their sponsorship programs.

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  • How large Chinese companies establish international competitiveness in other BRICS

    2013. Hans Jansson, Sten Söderman. Asian Business & Management 12 (5), 539-563

    Article

    Based on an abductive approach, a case study is performed on two Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in the construction equipment industry. These firms do not yet compete directly with major global firms. The reason for this is that Chinese firms have mainly built up international competitive strength in the low-price segment. A major result is a theory on the initial internationalisation strategy of Chinese firms. The main strategic counter-move by European MNC and other major incumbents seems to be to enter the low-price segment in emerging markets, for example, by acquiring local Chinese brands.

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  • Mega-sporting events and international marketing in emerging markets

    2013. Harald Dolles, Sten Söderman. Shõgaku ronsan 54 (3-4), 41-77

    Article

    Sponsorship of mega-sporting events such as the Olympic Games the Football World Cup has become a multi-million dollar business. Established multinational enterprises and brands such as GE, VW or Coca-Cola use such events as an international marketing platform. But sponsoring mega-sporting sporting event has also developed as a strategic way for local companies to enter new markets or to prove themselves as being ready for the world market. This is especially the case, when the event takes place in an emerging market. Most sport sponsorship research has focused on the markets in North America, Europe or Australia, thus covering a different economic development and representing not the same market conditions. This research aims to fill the gap by describing and analysing the advertising behaviour of the sponsoring partners to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. A means-objective framework of sponsoring focussing on six factors was applied to analyse 739 advertisements, articles and press releases collected from Chinese newspapers and Chinese official web pages between 2001 and 2008. By applying a qualitative content analysis, we discovered eight dominant means-objectives combinations leading to different sponsor advertising strategies depending on the lead time to the Olympic Games and the level of internationalization of the sponsoring company.

    Read more about Mega-sporting events and international marketing in emerging markets

  • Twenty years of development of the J-League

    2013. Harald Dolles, Sten Söderman. Soccer & Society 14 (5), 702-721

    Article

    By considering the implementation, as well as the immediate and sustainable success of the Japanese professional soccer (hence: football) league (J-League) during its first two decades as a neglected research example, we apply the ‘network of value captures’ research framework to the Japanese context. This research framework identifies and describes the business parameters of professional football by the following dimensions: (1) the product and its features; (2) various customer groups; and (3) the future vision of the club as central to different levels of strategy aggregation. The outcome of this research provides insight into the management of football in Japan by revealing different practices compared to Europe e.g. in target customer groups, in associated product marketing and merchandizing and in distribution of media revenues. The success story of the J-League also contributes to an increasing international awareness of Japanese football, its players and its fans.

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  • Outlook

    2013. Harald Dolles, Sten Söderman. Handbook of research on sport and business, 548-563

    Chapter
    Read more about Outlook

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